Lynching of George Meadows

George Meadows was an African American man who was lynched on January 15, 1889, in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States.

[1] On January 14, 1889, a white woman reported that she had been raped and her son killed by an African American man.

[2] Over 400 white coal miners formed themselves into groups and brought several black men to the woman, who was unable to identify any of them as the alleged criminal.

[3] On January 16, the sheriff decided that Meadows was not the actual perpetrator of the crime, and arrested another African American man, Lewis Jackson.

[3] In 2019, Tony Bingham, a professor at Miles College and an advisor for the Jefferson County Memorial Project, announced his intent to either locate the site of Meadows's grave or have the Birmingham Zoo or Birmingham Botanical Gardens (both of which are located in Lane Park) erect a memorial at their facilities.